Christmas love
by CloudwatcherNumbuh7
Summary: Hector never thought he would actually get the chance to spend a Christmas with his wife and family. Now that it's happening he's not sure what to do with himself.


If anyone told Hector that he was going to be spending Christmas with his family this time last year he would have called them _loco_. He had tried everything to get back in his wife's good graces and nothing had worked so he decided to put it on the back burner. Getting to see his beloved little girl Coco one more time before he was completely forgotten became his focus. He had almost given up hope before his great-great grandson, Miguel, came into their lives and changed everything but that's a story for another day.

Hector was overjoyed to be celebrating with his family even though Imelda was still somewhat cold towards him, not that he could blame her in the slightest. Just because they worked together that one night didn't mean that everything that happened between the two of them could be fixed just like that. Reaching inside his pocket he felt the small velvet box under his fingertips. Hoping that he wasn't over stepping boundaries with the gift that he made for her.

He watched his love throughout the night. The dark, evergreen, colored dress she had on, with the matching ribbon in her hair took his breath away, if he had any. Hector was thankful that his son-in-law, Julio had been kind enough to lend him a bright red, festive sweater. The twins threw a pair of brown slacks his way, saying he had to look presentable. If you asked Hector, he thought he looked rather good but with the way Imelda kept catching his eyes and looking away without as so much as a slight nod in his direction you would think that he was still in rags. Upon thinking about it he hadn't seen his beloved wife for an hour or so and was about to go looking for her when someone caught him in a bear hug.

" _Papá_ Hector!" Rosita smiled warmly, setting Hector back on his wobbly feet.

" _Hola_ Rosita. How is the party treating you?" He asked with a smile.

"It's treating me well, thanks for asking." She beamed at him. For such a strong woman she was always kind to Hector and he truly appreciated that of her.

"Seems like you can't say the same." Victoria spoke up while coming to join the two.

"What do you mean?" Hector asked, a little surprised by her forwardness.

"What our great niece means to say Hector is…"

"You've been looking a like a love-sick school boy…"

"Who's waiting for their crush to notice them all night." The twins stated. Both them had their arms crossed and giving the musician looks of disappointment.

"You've noticed that?" Hector chuckled nervously. Victoria, Oscar and Felipe all rolled their eyes.

"How could we not?" Victoria asked, looking at her grandpa pointedly. "You are normally the loudest person in the room and yet tonight you have not said as much ten words."

" _Hija._ Please. It's Christmas Eve, not a time to give someone a hard time." Julio stepped in. Despite his son-in-law's small structure Hector wanted to hide behind him. Before he could even attempt it, Oscar and Felipe spoke.

"It's not our faults that our sister married a coward." They said in unison. This got Hector's dander up. He stood up tall and narrowed his eyes at the twins. Neither of them backed down from the challenge. In that moment Hector could see the resemblance between the two and Imelda.

"I wonder where _mamá_ Imelda is sneaking off to." Rosita wondered out loud. Hector tore his eyes away from Oscar and Felipe to see a glimpse of a dark green dress heading out the back door to the court yard. He went to pull his straw hat down over his eyes but remember he left it home for the night because he wanted to look nice for her. His _corazón._ As he raced through the crowd of people, Hector didn't see the smiles on his family's faces.

"Do you think we went to far?" Oscar asked.

"We didn't mean to make him angry." Felipe added. Victoria gave a throaty laugh.

"No. He needed a good kick in the pants. We've all seen how they keep dancing around each other. They are both to afraid to make the first move, so we just lent them a helping hand. Nothing wrong with that."

"I could not have said it better myself _Hija._ " Julio smiled proudly up at his daughter.

* * *

Hector finally made it to the court yard after what seemed like a century. Taking a moment to collect himself he looked around and didn't see any sign of Imelda. Sighing he walked over to the bench under the tree. With the pale white lights strung through its bare branches it gave the whole area a soft, warm glow to it. Perfect for lovers. Light and music seeped out of every window and door way from the house. **Llorona** started to softly play. His heart ached, despite the fact he didn't have one.

"You were always melodramatic." He spun around so fast in his seat he was afraid his head was going to go flying off. There, surrounded by the glow of the tree stood Imelda. If he didn't know better, he would say she looked rather shy with her hands behind her back.

"Imelda… I… care to join me?" He cringed at himself for sounding so stupid but thankfully he didn't have to ask twice. Imelda sat down and placed a brown box on her lap. Hector didn't know what to say, he didn't think she would join him. An awkward silence fell between them, like they were strangers to one another, not husband and wife.

"You know… back when you were being forgotten and fading right before my eyes… I never thought that my heart could break for you anymore than it already had." Imelda paused for a moment, breathing deeply for a moment. "But it was. It felt like you were leaving all over again."

"Imelda I could never leave you. I made that mistake once." Without thinking he took her hand in his and grasped it gently. "It was to painful the first time. Even if the final death had come for me, I would wait, where ever that may be until we could be together."

Imelda's dark eyes shined with emotion, as did Hector's he had hoped his words reached her. Reaching up with his other hand he caressed her cheek and was relieved that she didn't swat him away. A loud _grito_ came from the house and broke their trance. Hector slowly lowered his hand and smiled shyly.

"Seems like we can't catch a break, can we?" Imelda softly laughed at his question and shook her head.

"No. It seems that way. Oh, by the way. This is for you." Imelda said, while placing the box on her husband's lap. He looked down at the gift then back at her, a huge grin appearing on his face.

"I have something for you too. It's not much but I hope you like it." He reached into his pants pocket and handed her the little black box. She looked at it and back to him with a soft smile.

"Anything from you Hector is priceless." Imelda whispered just loud enough for Hector to hear. They caught each other's eye and looked away like they were love sick teens. "Please go ahead and open yours first."

It had been so long since Hector received a Christmas gift he was a little taken back by the emotions building up. With shaky hands he took the lid off and pulled the thin paper back to reveal a pair of brand new Rivera shoes. His jaw almost fell off, but he was quick enough to catch it.

"Imelda. These are beautiful. This is to much."

"Nonsense! You are a Rivera. And all Rivera's must have the best quality shoes. Besides I made them just for you. See?" She took one of the shoes out of the box and turned it over to show him the side out part. There on the side, which only a master of sewing could pull off, was his guitar stitched on, gold tooth included.

"This must have taken you months to do."

"Months?! Who do you take me for? It only took me six weeks to finish and craft those shoes." She told him proudly.

"Thank you so much _mi amor._ I will cherish them for the rest of the my after life."

Imelda's heart melted from being called his love after so many long years not that she would let him or anyone else know it quite yet. She looked down at the box in her hands and slowly opened it. A small gasp escaped her lips before she could stop it.

"Hector… It's stunning. Where did you get it?"

Resting inside the small box was a dark purple bracelet. A green piece wrapped all the way around it with little white metal flowers in bloom. It was by far the most beautiful piece of jewelry she'd seen in a couple of decades.

"I made it."

Imelda looked at her husband and saw him looking down at the bracelet in question. Her eyes fell back to it to look at the detail.

"Someone owed me a favor and they showed me the ways of jewelry making." He said chuckling softly. "I made it with you in mind. Everything in that bracelet are the ways I see you."

Imelda took the bracelet out and put it on. In the light it seemed to shine. She felt like she was that young girl again having her first Christmas with Hector before they were blessed with their daughter Coco. Her body reacted before her senses caught up to her. She threw her arms around Hector and held him tightly.

After a moment he pressed Imelda to his bones and held on for dear life, hoping that if he was dreaming he wouldn't wake up. All to soon it ended but not before Imelda kissed his cheek.

"Thank you _mi amor._ "

They put their foreheads together and reached for each other's hands. For just a few minutes they didn't talk about the past or the future. They just held onto one another, knowing without saying a word that they were still in love and that they were in it for the long haul this time around.

* * *

 **Hello everyone who took the time to read this little one-shot. This is the first story I've written for Coco but I hope you enjoyed. It was a blast to write. I tried to keep the characters in character as much as possible. I write a Christmas special every year, so I figured why not give these two some love. Anyways enough of me talking. I hope you all have a great Christmas/Holiday and happy New year! :)**


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